Do they yodel in Belgium ?: Tjens Couter

14 December 2008

Watching a documentary about Belgian singer Arno, I discovered he could yodel ! I had to do some research to find the title of the song but I found it.

Arno Hintjens is a belgian singer who began his career in the beginning of the seventies. It is with his first group, Tjens Couter that you can hear him yodel on Honey bee. With his next group TC Matic, he made a kind of rock music mixed with blues and new wave. The group is still a reference in European rock with songs like Putain Putain (an alternative European hymn). Since 1996, he sings mostly solo an has played in different films.

He has a broken voice a bit like Tom Waits and his lyrics are written in dutch, french and english. He is also known for his covers of songs like the very touching Les filles du bord de mer (originally by Adamo).

As you hear the beginning of Honey bee, you wouln’t imagine there is a yodel in the song. It begins like a ballad, and then changes into a reggae beat where Arno tries to yodel. As he does it, you can hear is typical flemish (Ostend) accent.